- CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Earl Spencer has straddled the tailoring market for the last 40 years. He started on September 1, 1965.
Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
IT MIGHT be easier to get a soft noodle into a drinking straw than to make Earl Spencer, the man whose name is now synonymous with the well-made suit, wear a complete outfit of pants with jacket and tie. On any day of the week, he prefers to wear a cool cotton shirt of the style made popular by former Prime Minister, the late Norman Manley.
But, Spencer, who in this past week celebrated 40 years in the tailoring business, numbers among his clients many of Jamaican society's leaders, including His Excellency Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke. His Excellency told Outlook, "The personal service (offered by Spencer) is superb. He makes sure that I am well dressed, that I wear the right clothes."
He adds too, the Earl Spencer is more importantly, a friend.
Spencer's is the tailoring establishment which also produces uniforms for Air Jamaica and many local security firms as well. From the Constabulary Communications Network (CCN) where men and women are dressed in the trademark single breasted blue blazer with matching blue or khaki pants, officer Sonia Thompson states:
"We have been with Spencer's Tailoring since 1999. The CCN is very well dressed. The image is intentional. We would like to know that whatever image we present is going to be working for us on the professional front.
"We represent the force as far as media relations and public relations are concerned. A person's presentation really impacts a great deal on the reception of the information presented. Earl Spencer's professional work has accomplished this perfectly."
The son of Percy Spencer and Claudia Angus, Earl Spencer was born in Kingston, and grew up among three brothers and three sisters. He attended the Victoria All Age school in St. Catherine, setting his sights all along on becoming a jeweller.
" I really wanted to be a jeweller," he says, "and so my grandfather (I was his favourite) took me to the Swiss store downtown."
Young apprentice
The answer was that there was no position for a young apprentice. The same reply was received at Henriqes and Wrights.
Tired of all the rejections, the young man suggested to his grandfather that he could try painting instead, but the reply was that buildings were too high and he was too small.
Finally, Spencer suggested tailoring. The answer from his grandfather was yes.
So, in the year 1965, on the first day of September, a Wednesday, Earl Spencer arrived on the doorstep of a Mr. Garrick in Linstead as an apprentice tailor.
He was not to stay for very long as he had his eyes set on being a gentleman's tailor. His next stop was the English Shop, then located at 12 and 1/2 King Street in Kingston. Earl Spencer also did numerous courses in the art and industry of tailoring abroad, including in China.
"When you look at where the real competition is coming from, you need to join them to share the skill and the knowledge." He was also provided with information on better use of equipment through his studies.
Spencer was 24 years old when, on March 17, 1972, he decided to open his own shop at 63 Maxfield Avenue.
It was a fairly easy effort, he says, as he still lived at home and his parents had not relinquished the habit of giving him everything he needed (today he admits that his mother, who is 86 years old and resident in Miami, is still in the habit of sending anything that she believes he needs). All of his financing has come through his family. He has never borrowed for this reason.
"People figure I was spoilt because I was so easy-going."
He was to prove them wrong.
In Maxfield Park, where 'most tailors were located' Spencer did a thriving business, doing so well that soon he and his team there moved up to Half-Way Tree where 'all the big guns' set up shop.
In Half-Way Tree there were such established tailors as D.B. Dyer, Herman Farell and Century, among others.
Since that time, success, the businessman claims, has never left his side, and this, he believes, is connected to honest business practices and giving people what they want, plus a bit of luck.
"From the first year, I paid my taxes. The amount was $131.50. We have been audited several times and I have never been touched by the law."
Locations
Spencer's Tailoring is currently located in the Central Plaza in Kingston and has been there for the past 24 years. There he built the three-story structure which now houses his retail business, fitting rooms and factory. Two other locations are in Mandeville and Ocho Rios.
The most challenging time for the tailor was when he opened the doors of his new retail establishment, only to be hit by a lawsuit by someone contracted during the construction period. This was settled in his favour, much to his relief.
"When I have problems, I eat. I am now able to concentrate on the business more now."
Clients have remained with him for decades, with new ones being added every month. "In my opinion, it is not hard to get people to stay. Jamaican men want to wear nice suits."
Spencer states, "there are a lot of well-made but ill-fitting suits around because they are made for a different nationality.
"Englishmen are upright, and so suits are made for them with this in mind in the United Kingdom. Italians are beefy. Americans walk with their head forward. Jamaicans also walk with the head forward, but they are bigger in the hips".
Many imported suits, including those from Canada, have shoulders which are too wide and a tail which is too narrow. For a good suit, it is best to get a custom fit."
Spencer, with four decades of experience under his belt, speaks with authority, but we can't even get him to say much about the local shops which are full of imports.
"We do make a very good living from alterations. It is what has kept us alive from 1995," is his response.
For his loyal clients, he has discovered the knack of delivering.
CCN's Sonia Thomas comments, "Earl Spencer is a very professional yet humane person to work with. You can relate to him. He understands. He is able to adjust, look at the needs of customers and make practical suggestions. He has dressed my family too, my husband's friends and other family members."
The police officer also reveals that Earl Spencer, "is somebody who believes also in giving; we have benefited also on a charitable basis."
It is this spirit of generosity with which His Excellency, Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke claims that he is impressed:
He says, "I regard him (Earl Spencer) as a friend. What I like about him is that it is not only my problems, but also the problems of the country that he is concerned about. There is an altruism that he expresses that I don't find in as many Jamaicans as I would wish."
Respect, regard
"Personally, I have the highest regard and respect for him, for the sort of service he offers and his generosity to people."
Earl Spencer has been involved in many charitable projects of which he will not speak, but he does admit that Spencer's tailoring has been responsible for training many tailors free of charge, even providing some trainees with a stipend while they learn.
"If you do not create a market, it will die," he says. "We are not here to crush anyone. The only way you can make good money is to have true competition." He remains very optimistic about the future of the industry from which he makes his living.
Spencer is married to Mavis who is also his business partner. He is the father of one child, 28-year-old Errol Spencer. He loves to read "anything and everything", loves the beach, rivers and track and field.
But, most of all, he says, he loves to study tailoring and teach the craft.
"There will be more tailors and a greater demand for their services in the next 10 years," he claims, noting that internationally, production costs have grown and China is now affected by tariffs and higher shipping costs.
That is the kind of faith which has served him well in the past. It also makes him happy to continue a career tailor-made for him.
